Hidden Moments
by Just One
Summary: ShikaIno Oneshot Collection. He lend her his coat and sacrificed his bed, raining wet and taking the couch himself. Because really, who could stand up against that brilliant smile?
1. Happy Birthday

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto - Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei. I do own the plotline of this story.**

**Author's Note: And so it begins - my first One-shot Collection. ShikaxIno of course, as it is my absolute favorite pairing. This first drabble shows how, eventhouh Ino is obsessed by Sasuke, there is still an affectionate connection between her and our fave lazy genius. And who knows, maybe this will be enough for a full-fledged relationship in the future - after all, we all know all Shika and Ino need is a simple spark. Enjoy, minna-san!**

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"Aw man…"

Shikamaru quirked a brow at his teammates pouting. To his knowledge, Ino only pouted when she didn't get her way with something she wanted badly (like that Sasuke fellow with his herd of fan girls and cockatoo hair), and as far as Shikamaru knew, there had been nothing of the sort this morning.

"What is it, Ino?" He mumbled, letting the words roll of his tongue lazily, walking alongside her.

"Well, it's Sasuke's birthday today! I was going to visit his house first thing in the morning. Sakura is on his team after all, so she can spend all day with him! It's no fair, so I decided I should at least get to see him first. But now that Asuma sensei made us meet up early to plan out the mission ahead, there is no way I can go." She explained, readjusting her hair tie and kicking at puddles.

Shikamaru sighed. It was about Sasuke, again. He wished Ino would change perspective, widen her view and pay a little more attention to other boys, not just that guy. And then he didn't mean himself. There were tons of boys throughout the village who probably deserved Ino's attention more than that ice cube. And now, he really didn't mean himself. No way.

Ino's whining continued. "And I fixed him such a nice present too…"

She halted her pace, drawing Shikamaru's attention. He turned around, following her movements carefully. She had pulled the dark purple backpack from her shoulders, held it in one arm and used the other to spit through, obviously looking for something important. Eventually, she pulled out something that resembled a blanketed baby; a small navy blue bundle.

He feared the worst.

Ino shook the thing and he gaped. What she was holding by the two sleeves now, was a sweater. Well, more like a hideous, navy-blue, flurry creature than a sweater. Letters from the same fabric but in a white shade were sewed onto it, criss-crossing and making no sense whatsoever.

He squinted, concentrated, leaned forward, and when he couldn't make out the writings even after five minutes of trying, Shikamaru gave up. The easier way out was beating making an effort once again. He wasn't Konoha's number one lazy ninja for nothing, right?

"What does it say, Ino?" He inquired.

" 'Happy birthday Sasuke-kun!' " Ino recited. "Well, what do you think?" She beamed up at Shikamaru, her blue eyes sparkling with obvious excitement.

Shikamaru sighed deeply. How could he disappoint such a face? He loved Ino's smile.

"It's absolutely magnificent. You go on and bring him his gift." He muttered softly. He found it hard to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

"But…"

"I'll tell Asuma you're gonna be a little late. That's what teammate's are for, right?"

"Aw, thanks, Shikamaru!" Ino exclaimed, leaning upwards and pressing her lips on his cheek for a second. As she skipped into the direction of Sasuke's house, he looked after her, shaking his head lazily.

"Troublesome girl." A red haze spread over his cheeks quickly.


	2. The HairtieSwop

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto - Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei. I do own the plotline of this story.**

**Author's Note: This is a little idea I got when it was Swop-Ya-Hairtie Day at my school. Swop-Ya-Hairtie Day is an initiative of the students back in the seventies when the teenage people like to be rebellious and thought swopping their hairties would be a good way to be so. Ahem. Yes, we Dutch people are indeed crazy. Anyhow, on Swop-Ya-Hairtie Day, everyone on our school with hair long enough to fit in a hairtie (my friend Jason wears em in his bangs since the rest of his 'do' is to short) wears one to school and you swop it with the person you end up sitting next to, be it a friend, be it an enemy, be it a stranger. This happens every period. Yes, you never get your original hairtie back. Anyhow... That's the inspiration behind it all! ENjoy, and please leave me a nive review, minna-san!**

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Ino reached behind her head, hooking two fingers around the purple band before undoing it and letting her soft blonde hair run free. She wrapped the hair tie around her left wrist and shook her head from left to right, golden tresses flying about. The girl sensed someone staring at her, and she turned around, brushing her bangs behind her ear in the process.

Shikamaru's watchful eyes burned into her cerulean blue ones, and she turned away with an embarrassed look.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just…" Her both ears barely registered his words and she walked towards him, sitting down cross-legged to listen to his words.

"It looks much prettier down."

"That's not true… When I was little, my mom always tied it up, saying I looked prettier that way. I always believed that to be true, and I guess while I grew up the habit just stuck with me." She smiled, gazing into the fire.

Nights like these were his favorite, when the two of them sat together on guard. Usually Chouji fell asleep after dinner (he always ate too much), and Ino was most accustomed to taking the first shift. However, he was never fully at ease when she was out there alone. Often, he'd stick with her and together they would sit around the fire, gazing in the flames and saying little to nothing. It was enough.

"But I think it looks better down." He replied stubbornly, in a lazy tone that made her want to smack him repeatedly until he would finally show he cared for something, that some stuff mattered.

"You don't wear your hair down." She grinned at the beautiful come-back. Usually when she engaged into an argument with Shikamaru, she wasn't able to come up with such a reply. And he would win every single of their arguments with ease, even if he didn't try. Yet she kept on pushing, and pushing. Because she like to hear him talk.

"That's for different reasons, Ino. It's not comfortable to have your hair sweeping in your face at times, especially in combat. Besides, it's not very manly."

Ino smiled at her sudden idea.

Reaching for the ponytail behind his head, she whispered down Shikamaru's left ear:

"Then let's make a deal."

And from that night on, one evening in the week, one could spot two figures prancing about Konoha's main street. A male and a female. The girl would wear a brown band around her wrist, and the boy a matching purple one. Waves of blonde and brown cascading down their backs.


	3. Breakup

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto - Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei. I do own the plotline of this story.**

**Author's Note: This is actually based on a real-life event: the break-up between my brother's best friend Catch and his ex-girlfriend Mindy. Pity them - The best couple ever, only they took things way too fast. Honestly, I cried when my bro told me they had split up - after all, they were the one couple I knew that I was just sure of would stick together through it all. And if they fall apart, it makes you wonder about your own relationship, and how that's ever gonna work out allright. Enjoy and leave me a nice review, even though this thing might make you cry (If you are overly emotive, maybe).**

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"So. This is it then."

Ino looked up at him, smiling. The look in her eyes was distant. For once in his life, he didn't wonder where she was, mentally. Ino was good at day-dreaming, her mind being at another place as her body was – after all, that was the basic point of her jutsus. He always used to be so worried whenever her limp body was lying weakly in his arms, worried for her safety and wondering if she would return to him okay. And later on when they had gotten together, he wondered where here thoughts were when she was spacing out on him again, staring of into the distance with a dreamy look on her face, not really seeing anything.

"Yeah, I guess so." She mumbled, casting glances up at his face. He smiled an empty smile at her, and both of them knew there was nothing but concealed sadness underneath it. He could care less.

There were other things to worry about. He didn't even know how he was feeling about all of this, for the most part he just felt paralyzed, paralyzed with fear, worry and rage. He feared a future without her – as madly in love as they had been, they hadn't thought of taking things slow for one second and after three months, she'd moved in with him. He was afraid he had lost the ability to live alone in the meantime, without her angelic face everywhere his life seemed so much harder to live.

He was worried about where she would go. Back to her parents of course. Her father had been furious when she moved out to go live with her boyfriend, but Shikamaru was sure her mother would welcome her back home without many problems, and what choice would Inoichi have but to forgive his daughter for her mistakes?

He was angry, too. There was a roaring beast living within his heart these days, where just a few days ago had been nothing but love and devotion. He didn't understand – or rather, he didn't want to understand. He wanted to live within oblivion; he wanted ignorance to be bliss. And he was angry for he was too much of a genius to be able to convince himself of the fact that everything was all right. For it was not.

Ino reached up to place her hand on his cheek, softly caressing his skin with a thumb, savoring the feeling.

Shikamaru closed his eyes to the sad look on her face, and instead called on the memory of yesterday morning, back when they were still an item, back when they were still Shikamaru & Ino, instead of Shikamaru, and Ino. The last peaceful memory within the swirl of emotions that the last day had been.

Ino on his windowsill. She slumped a little bit, but her neck stretched long and her head was thrown back as she took deep breaths of fresh morning air. She was shifting uncomfortably on the wooden bars that made the frame, one leg hanging from the window into the morning out side, one leg dangling of the edge of the sill, her toes stroking the ground almost gently as she wiggled them. One of her hands rested on her thigh, the other twirled a strand of her platinum blonde hair. He had untied her locks last night, so now the blonde waterfall was flowing down her back, sometimes moving just slightly within the morning breeze.

He noticed how, on one side, she was breezy and light like the morning, it was almost as if she would float right from his window. On the other side, hidden within the shadows the wall behind her cast upon her features, she was still soft and sweaty as she had been last night. Two halves, forming one perfect whole where they came together.

As Shikamaru opened his eyes, the image faded away and he was surprised to notice Ino was no longer standing in front of him: instead his eyes followed her down the room as she went to grab the small suitcase that held her belongings – it wasn't much. After all, her decision to move in with him had been a spur-of-the-moment thing and since she hadn't been at her parent's house ever since, the only belongings of hers that were there for her to pack was the stuff that was already slowly taking over his apartment as their relationship advanced, that one night when she came to him with sparkling eyes and a wonderful proposal.

A sigh escaped his lips. Of course they had seen it coming – their relationship had been going downhill for quite some time now. He often found himself wondering if maybe things would still be all right between them if they hadn't rushed into things like this. Maybe she really wasn't over Sasuke yet, though every action she made told otherwise. Maybe he hadn't paid enough attention to her, maybe it was entirely his fault that they weren't still together. Maybe in spite of all the love and the chemistry they'd had, ShikxIno just wasn't meant to be.

Maybe. All he knew was that whatever they had had before, it wasn't there anymore, He loved her more than anything on this world, but he wasn't as cruel as to force her into a relationship if it really just wasn't happening anymore.

He grabbed his Chuunin vest and pulled it on, almost placing his hand on her back to lead her to the door and out of his apartment but hesitating and pulling back at the last second. Was he still allowed to touch her, and in what way actually?

They halted in the middle of the street, and Ino flung her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder one last time. Yet something had changed. The mutual trust wasn't there anymore. He wrapped his arms around her lithe form awkwardly. Her hair smelled like cinnamon, he noticed. The faint smell always surrounded her wherever she went.

She smiled up at him, mumbling. "Shikamaru… You know I love you, don't you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Ino…"

She leaned up and pecked his lips one last time, then freed herself from his grip gently, carefully, as if afraid to break him. Turning around, she grasped the small suitcase by her side tightly and walked away with wavering, yet confidant steps.

Shikamaru smiled. He'd never been through a break-up, but somehow it didn't seem so bad. They still had their memories, after all, he thought, thinking back to that one peaceful moment yesterday morning before she'd told him it was over. It had hurt. On both sides. He turned around and trailed back into his home, looking around.

He already missed having her perkiness around, wondering how he had ever survived without her bright mood around. Would he be able to do so again? He looked over his shoulder at her form retreating in the distance, the ponytail sweeping from left to right on her back.

It was over.


	4. Stolen Kiss

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto - Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei. I do own the plotline of this story.**

**Author's Note: No apparent specific inspiration to write this piece... Noe it is very small and very tiny indeed, sorry for the large amount of drabbles in this collection. More actual full-fledged one-shots are definitely on the way - Give me a day or two, okay? Until then, enjoy the drabbleness... Be nice and leave a review!**

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Shikamaru sighed, whiping blonde strands of hair from her face. 

It was always horrific for him to hold her soulles body. Whenever gazing down upon her angelic face, he was frightened maybe she would not return to him allright. Asuma had told him what could happen if Ino got lost inbetween bodies, this being the reason why he was so afraid when their surroundings were crowded. It was easier for her to get lost when surrounded by many bodies, souls and minds. Often, when his nerves got the best of him, he would talk to her quietly, using his thumb to gently rub her cheeks and ensure himself she was still there. It was so hard to believe this was Ino lying in his arms, when she wasn't determindly training, expertly aiding in her family's shop or annoyingly nagging at him for whatever aspect of his behavior she might dissaprove of. It was so hard to believe this was still Ino... He held her close constantly so he'd be the first to notice if she went cold, a sign something wasn't going as it should.

Shikamaru cradled her lithe body in his arms softly. Despite all the worry he had to go through, all the fears he had to face to get here, this was indeed the only time he could get so close to Ino without raising suspicions or earning a slap over the head. And if it ment some alone time with Ino, even if it was only her body as her mind was absent, he was willing to take on all the responsabilities it might bring.

Dipping down his head, he softly placed his lips over hers chastely, secretly enjoying her taste in a simple one-sided kiss. Upon feeling Ino stir, however, he pulled back quickly with a small flicker of pain in his heart.

She opened her bright blue orbs and gazed at him, slowly regaining her senses. Shikamaru smiled down at her, lending the girl an arm to lift her up as her legs slowly set into movement. Afetr a few uneasy stumbles, she found her balance and steadied herself. A bright smile directed at him lifted his spirits easily as his favorite blonde kunoichi pressed her face down his shoulder for less than a second, before letting go. A silent 'Thank you', a silent 'I know I can trust you', a silent 'I'm glad you're here.'

Shikamaru watched as she walked away with featherlight steps. These secret moments, hidden within the darkness of their minds were dear to him. In the original Ino-Shika-Cho combination he was meant to catch her and shelter her body from whatever might be assaulting them, be it a snowstorm, be it a demonic chakra. If he did not, the entire strategy failed and every battle would be lost. Ino needed him to hold her close and protect her, for just those few seconds when she herself could not. The fact that she needed him made Shikamaru feel assured - feel safe. Falling in step beside her, their glances met as she looked up with brilliant blue orbs, smiling gently. Her hand clasped his tightly and he savored the feeling, knowing she would let go once they encountered anyone. A small smirk occupied his lips as he gazed down upon Ino, motcing the determined shine in her eyes. It made him too, feel alive.

"Welcome back, Ino."


End file.
